St Kitts and Nevis: Death penalty / Legal Concern
Seven named men, who make up the entire population of death row on St Kitts and Nevis, may now be in greater danger of being put to death, as the island recently carried out its first execution in 10 years.
PUBLIC AI Index: AMR 59/001/2009
12 February 2009
UA 36/09 Death penalty/Legal Concern
ST KITTS AND NEVIS Lewis Gardner (m) ]
Sheldon Isaac (m) ]
Romeo Cannonier (m) ]
Ruedeney Williams (m) ] Death row prisoners
Travis Duport (m) ]
Evanson Mitcham (m) ]
Warrington Philips (m) ]
The seven men named above, who make up the entire population of death row on St Kitts and Nevis, may now
be in greater danger of being put to death, as the island recently carried out its first execution in 10 years.
Charles Elroy Laplace was executed on 19 December. Amnesty International has reason to believe that he
may not have been granted his legal right to explore all avenues of appeal available to him before his
execution.
Charles Elroy Laplace, who had been on death row for four years, was executed on 19 December. He had been
sentenced to death for the murder of his wife. On 29 October the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court had
dismissed an appeal because it had been filed too late. Charles Laplace did not then appeal to the Judicial
Committee of the Privy Council in the UK, the final court of appeal for St Kitts and Nevis. The authorities are
not obliged to wait for an appeal to the Privy Council to be completed before proceeding with executions, but
it appears that Charles Laplace may not have been provided with the necessary legal assistance by the state to
file an appeal. Withholding legal assistance would be a violation of the obligations place on St Kitts and Nevis
by international law and UN standards on the death penalty.
It is not clear whether his right to apply for amnesty, pardon or commutation of sentence was respected. An
Advisory Committee on the Prerogative of Mercy apparently met before the execution to consider his case, but
it is not known whether Charles Laplace was told when his mercy plea would be considered and whether he
was provided with legal assistance to help compile his application for clemency. The Privy Council judgment
in the 2001 case of Neville Lewis & Others v Attorney General of Jamaica states that condemned prisoners
have specific rights regarding clemency procedures, including the right to view documents considered in their
mercy plea, and to have the opportunity to make representations before the mercy committee.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The last execution in the English-speaking Caribbean – Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize,
Dominica, Guyana, Grenada, Jamaica, St Lucia, St Kitts and Nevis, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad
and Tobago – was carried out in the Bahamas in 2000. While executions have become increasingly rare,
support for the death penalty in the region is high, and death sentences are still being handed down. The
region suffers from a high, and often increasing, crime rate and executions are seen as a method of crime
control. St Kitts and Nevis, which has a population of just 46,000, saw a record 23 murders in 2008.
However, scientific studies have consistently found no convincing evidence that the death penalty deters
crime more effectively than other punishments. The most recent survey of research findings on the relation
between the death penalty and homicide rates, conducted for the United Nations in 1988 and updated in
1996 and 2002, concluded that "research has failed to provide scientific proof that executions have a greater
deterrent effect than life imprisonment." The media reported that three people were shot just a day after
Charles Laplace’s execution.
His execution also runs counter to the international trend away from the use of the death penalty. A December
2008 resolution at the UN General Assembly calling for a global moratorium on executions was passed by a
vote of 105 to 48. The English-speaking Caribbean made up a quarter of the countries which voted against
the resolution.
Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all cases as a violation of the right to life and as the
ultimate form of cruel and inhuman punishment. It brutalizes those involved in the process of executions and
wider society as a whole.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible, in English or your own
language:
- urging the authorities to respect national legal procedures and the standards required by the Privy Council
and the UN for the protection of the rights of prisoners sentenced to death, including those named above;
- expressing deep regret at the hanging of Charles Elroy Laplace, which came after 10 years without
executions in St Kitts and Nevis;
- expressing sympathy for the victims of violent crime and their families, but pointing out that the death
penalty has never been shown to be a more effective deterrent to violent crime than other forms of
punishment;
- calling on the authorities to join the international trend towards abolition of the death penalty, and introduce
an immediate moratorium on executions.
APPEALS TO:
Prime Minister
The Hon. Denzil Douglas
Government Headquarters
Church Street, Basseterre, St Kitts and Nevis
Fax: + 1 869 465 1001
Salutation: Dear Prime Minister
Minister of Justice and Legal Affairs
The Hon. Dennis Merchant
Ministry of Justice and Legal Affairs
Office of the Attorney General
Government Headquarters
Church Street, Basseterre, St Kitts and Nevis
Fax: +1 869 465 5040
Salutation: Dear Minister
COPIES TO:
Newspaper
SKN Vibes
P.O. Box 130
Basseterre, St. Kitts and Nevis
Fax: +1 869 465 9744
Email: support@sknvibes.com
and to diplomatic representatives of St Kitts and Nevis accredited to your country.
PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY. Check with the International Secretariat, or your section office, if
sending appeals after 26 March 2009.